


Kingdom’s Edge

by godtier1



Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-17
Updated: 2021-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-25 16:01:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30091593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/godtier1/pseuds/godtier1
Summary: By day, Din Djarin is a microbiologist at a university hospital, and by evening he is a single father to a precocious seven year old son. Their suburban life is rather ordinary, until Din hears the whispers from the lab, of something sinister on the horizon...
Relationships: Din Djarin/Cobb Vanth
Comments: 12
Kudos: 24





	1. Omen

The end of the world began quickly and quietly, in the early summer on the east coast. While tourists hit the beaches and frequented the local eateries, Din Djarin went to work each day, at the university clinical lab, parasitology division. His job was to identify the critters that were making the patients at the hospital sick, so the doctors could make a proper diagnosis to begin their treatment. It was difficult, albeit rewarding work, and there was nothing else he’d rather be doing.

The first warning bells sounded a little more than a week before full lockdown began. A week. That was all it took.

There were whispers among Din’s coworkers in the virology division about a rabies outbreak, which was startling enough on its own. This sort of thing just never happened. One case was surprising, two was unheard of, and five was downright alarming. It was early in the epidemiological investigation, and a source of the outbreak had yet to be found. 

“I don’t know Din, this is just really unsettling,” his virologist friend Paz told him, one afternoon over lunch. “I’m probably catastrophizing here, but this just feels so… wrong. Like it’s the start of something bigger.”

Din nodded seriously as he listened. He wasn’t as familiar with viruses as Paz was, but he trusted his colleague’s expertise.

“It’s just really strange, only one of the patients reported being bitten by anything, and none of them have any sort of travel history. And the symptoms are… off. Not quite what you’d expect. We haven’t even confirmed it IS rabies yet, we’re still waiting for the specimens from the autopsies to arrive.”

Din frowned as he took a sip of his coffee. “When are they due to get here?”

“The first one should arrive tonight, and the others should follow tomorrow. I’ll be handling them personally.”

Din nodded again as he stood up to rinse out his coffee mug. He needed to get back to work, to finish his shift early so he could pick up his son from school.

“Well, good luck with all that. I hope it’s not as serious as you think it is.”

Paz smiled slightly, looking tense. 

“You and me both.”

That afternoon, Din picked up his son from school, like he did every day. When he pulled up to the curb, a little seven-year old boy was waiting for him, practically bouncing all the way to the car. He waved at his friends as he put on his seatbelt. 

“Hey Grogu, how was school?”

“Good! We watched a movie about frogs! Did you know some people call them, um, aphib… aphiblians.”

“Amphibians?”

“Yeah! That!” he said excitedly, swinging his legs in the backseat. 

“Sounds like a good day!” Din replied with a fond smile.

“What did you do today, dad? Did you see anything gross?”

Din flipped his blinker as he pulled into their housing complex. “Yup, I see gross things everyday bud.”

“Like what?”

Din thought for a moment, trying to decide how much detail was appropriate for a little kid. 

“Lots of creepy crawly things.”

“Eeeeeew!” Grogu said with a laugh. Din chuckled at his reaction.

“Did you see any frogs?” he asked hopefully.

“Sorry love, no frogs.”

When they returned home, Din set Grogu up at the kitchen table to do his homework. He was just about to jump in the shower when his phone buzzed.

“We still on for tonight? ;)” the text read.

Din smiled as he replied.

“Of course. Come over whenever you want.”

He sighed as he turned on the shower, warm water relieving the stress of the day. It had been a long week. But Fridays always carried the promise of good food and better company. His best friend from childhood, Cobb Vanth, came over at the end of each week to hang out with Din and Grogu. Oftentimes he even stayed over to Saturday, and on rare occasions he stayed through the whole weekend.

If Cobb had been asked what they did during their time together, he would reply, “Netflix and chill,” with a wink. But in reality, he meant it rather literally. The three of them would often watch movies together in their pajamas, and once Grogu had fallen asleep for the night, Din and Cobb would stay up late talking. They would chat about this and that until Cobb would decide, “it’s late, I should probably get going,” or more frequently, until one or both of them fell asleep on the couch.

Cobb had been a constant presence in Din’s life for the better part of three decades now. Christ, they were getting old. Din remembered when Cobb had been fifteen, all gangly and awkward with dark brown hair and braces. These days the braces were gone and the dark hair was traded for a suave gray, but he was still the same Cobb. Still made Din laugh with minimal effort. Still made him think critically about the world when they sat down for their weekly discussions. 

When Grogu made his debut into Din’s life, two years prior, Cobb had been there to reassure him. He had been there to remind him that yes, he was doing the right thing by taking the kid in, and that Cobb would be there to help him whenever he needed it. The scene still made Din choke up, when it replayed in his head like an old film reel. 

The water had long gone cold before Din had been knocked out of his reverie. He quickly finished up and went to the kitchen to start dinner.

Cobb arrived a half hour later, a familiar tin full of homemade cookies in tow. Grogu practically combusted at the site.

“Cobb!” he screeched as he opened the front door. “Are those cookies?”

Cobb looked thoughtful for a moment.

“I dunno, depends on who's asking,” he said with a wry smile.

“I’m asking Cobb! Me, Grogu!”

“Oh, well in that case, yes they are cookies, but they’re for after dinner,” he chuckled as he lifted the tin out of Grogu’s reach. He strolled into the kitchen and placed them on top of the refrigerator. He had learned, from previous experience, that Grogu was a menace when it came to cookies, and that he would stop at nothing to obtain them. 

“Hey Cobb,” Din greeted, lifting his vegetable cutting knife in the air with a little wave.

“Hey yourself!” Cobb replied with a grin. “Need any help?”

The two friends chatted as they worked on dinner together, Grogu watching cartoons with the volume turned all the way up in the other room.

“Kid’s gonna blow his eardrums out,” Cobb remarked with a laugh as he dumped vegetables in a large pot.

“Yeah, hey Grogu?” Din yelled into the other room. “You’re seven, not seventy, let’s turn down the volume okay?” He laughed at Grogu’s indignant reply.

When Din returned to the kitchen, he looked to Cobb.

“How was your week? Anything interesting happen?”

Cobb shrugged as he washed his hands at the sink.

“It was fine, met with some publishers on Tuesday, a couple of them seem interested in my novel.”

“Oh yeah? That’s great Cobb, I’m proud of you!”

Cobb ducked his head bashfully. 

“Yeah well, don’t get too proud of me yet, I’m not sure if they’re going to bite.”

They worked in companionable silence for a few minutes, when Cobb asked,

“How was your week, oh king of the parasites? See anything cool?”

Din laughed as he took the pot off of the stove, giving it a good stir.

“Do you really want to know, right before we eat?”

Cobb screwed his face up in thought.

“Hm, yeah you know what, let’s table that for later.”

The three of them ate dinner together, entertaining Grogu as he told them, in depth, about frogs. 

“They have long tongues! Oh, and some of them will kill you if you touch them!”

“You don’t say!” Cobb exclaimed, looking fascinated. He was always so good with Grogu. It made Din’s chest feel warm and full.

“Yeah! They have cool colors, like red and blue! It means they’re scary so don’t touch them!” 

“I’ll remember that the next time I see one!” Cobb replied, crunching on ice from his drink. 

After dinner, they ate cookies as they watched a kid’s movie, unsurprisingly with a frog protagonist. Din and Cobb exchanged a fondly exasperated look. This was apparently Grogu’s newest hyper fixation. 

“Let’s watch another one!” he exclaimed, jumping from the couch as the credits rolled.

“I think it’s time for bed,” Din said, closing the lid on the empty tin of cookies.

“Noooooo, you guys will watch another one without me!” he whined. 

Cobb laughed, “more movies will still be here in the morning, frog boy.”

Grogu gave Cobb a goodnight hug with a pout, and was led to his room by Din to do their nightly ritual. 

When Din returned, Cobb had a small notebook out, and was seemingly taking notes of some kind. He carried it around with him, in case the mood or inspiration for writing hit him. When he saw Din, he put it in his back pocket with a smile. 

“So you gonna tell me about the gross things you saw at work all week?”

Din looked thoughtful as he took a seat next to Cobb on the couch. “There was nothing particularly out of the ordinary in my department this week, to be honest. But…” He thought back to the conversation he’d had with Paz earlier that afternoon. “There might be something interesting happening in the virology lab.”

“Oh yeah?” Cobb asked, sitting up straighter. “Sounds like there’s a story there, partner!”

Din spent the next hour relaying the situation, taking special care to remember exactly what Paz had told him. Cobb looked enraptured the entire time, hanging on to Din’s every word. When he was finished, Cobb let out a low whistle.

“Damn, that’s some scary shit,” he said seriously. “And they don’t know why it’s happening?”

“No, the epidemiology department hasn’t reached any sort of consensus yet. It’s still pretty early in the investigation.”

Cobb nodded. “Well keep me up to date! I’m invested now! Maybe it will be the topic of my next book,” he said with a grin.

The two continued their chat, until the next thing he knew Din was waking up to bright sunlight pelting him in the face, the sound of birds calling from outside the window. He rubbed his eyes, sighing contently, until he realized he’d fallen asleep on top of Cobb, laying protectively over his heart. He froze, not wanting to wake up Cobb and be caught in this compromising position, but Cobb just let out a soft snore and subconsciously wrapped his arms around Din’s broad shoulders. He could feel his face heating up, but made no further attempts to move away. This would not be the first or last time this had happened. He snuggled further into Cobb’s chest, breathing in his scent, and let sleep take him once more.

The second time Din woke from his slumber was to the sound of clanging coming from the kitchen. He jumped, startled, and realized he was still lying on top of Cobb, who seemed to be awake now too. They gave each other a sleepy smile, Cobb’s fingers brushing away stray strands of hair from Din’s face. 

“Good morning,” he whispered, like his greeting was a secret only meant for Din. He was about to reply, when a larger crash came from the direction of the kitchen this time. Din groaned as he sat up, but then Cobb was patting him on the shoulder, knees popping as he got up from the couch.

“I’ll take care of it,” he said simply. 

Din could hear the conversation floating over from the kitchen.

“Were you planning on cooking breakfast this morning Grogu?” Cobb asked, and Din could imagine his hands on his narrow hips. 

“Yes! I’m going to make pancakes!”

“How about we make them together, huh? We’ll cook for your lazy dad.”

Din smiled at their antics. He reached for his phone to check the time. It was a little past eight o’clock.

However, he wasn’t expecting to see a series of texts from Paz on his lock screen this early on a Saturday morning. It read,

“Hey Din, first of the samples came in last night. Not rabies.”

“Had a bit of an accident though, nicked myself with the damn scalpel. Gonna do prophylaxis just in case.”

“Great way to start the weekend.”

Din winced in sympathy. Lab accidents like that were no laughing matter. He texted back,

“Yikes, sorry that happened, I’m glad you’re ok though. Better safe than sorry with the prophylaxis.”

With that, Din left the warmth of the couch to join his boys in the kitchen. They spent the rest of the weekend as they usually did, eating and laughing and playing games. 

A pity it would be their last weekend of normalcy.

The next time Din saw Paz was Tuesday morning, at the coffee machine. He had just poured himself a cup, and breathed in the scent to try and further wake up, when Paz walked in the room. Din was about to say hello when the sight of his colleague stopped him in his tracks. 

Paz looked dreadful. He was a couple of shades too pale to be healthy, and had deep bags under his eyes. His gait was slightly off in a way Din could not quite place, and his fingers shook as he poured himself a cup of water. He smiled slightly when he spotted Din. 

“Morning Din,” he said softly, voice wavering. Din just about dropped his mug.

“Holy shit Paz, are you alright?”

Paz sighed and ran a hand through his hair. 

“Don’t worry, I’m sure I look worse than I feel. I’m just a little under the weather.”

Din nodded, looking worried.

“Shouldn’t you go home? Your department is fully staffed today, surely they’ll be alright without you?”

Paz shook his head, then winced at the movement.

“We’re still investigating the so-called rabies incident. We’ve got twelve more patients today, Din. TWELVE. There’s something really sinister going on, and they need me here for it.”

He thought for a moment, and then continued, 

“We might be looking at the start of a full scale epidemic. Whatever this is, it’s spreading quickly. And…” he licked his lips nervously, “don’t go spreading this around, but a few of the patients somehow resuscitated themselves on the damn autopsy table. Attacked the pathologists performing the procedure. Had to get the police in the mix.”

Din froze, feeling dread seep into his bones.

“Oh my god.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty fucked up. It’s almost like…” he laughed to himself, seemingly in disbelief. “... some sort of low-budget horror movie. But Din…” He looked his coworker straight in the eyes. “If this continues to spread so quickly, things are going to get out of hand very fast. We’ve already got the local news breathing down our necks. Once the story gets out, people will panic.”

Din hung on his every word, feeling the weight of the situation hit him.

“Din, you’ve got a little one at home. I might be overreacting, but if this gets any worse, take Grogu and get the hell out of town. At least until things calm down.”

Din looked unsure as he took a drink of his coffee, willing his nerves under control. 

“If you think it will get that bad, I’ll keep a bag packed at home, just in case.”

Paz nodded slightly as he left the break room, sipping slowly on water as he left. 

Later that evening, while Grogu was playing at a neighbor’s house, Din returned to the lab to retrieve the hoodie he had forgotten in his locker that afternoon. He had every intention of this being a brief trip. However, when he pulled into the parking garage, he noticed that Paz’s car was one of only a handful still left in the lot. Strange. He should have left hours ago.

He entered the lab with his keycard, and dropped by his locker for his hoodie. He was just about to leave, but something told him to check on Paz, to make sure he was alright. The man was obviously very sick, and he was afraid he might have passed out where no one would find him.

He peeked his head into the virology lab, and noticed that Paz’s lab coat was not on its hook. So he was truly still here. He looked around the rooms that made up the department, but found no sign of his colleague. 

The last place to check was the BSL-4 rooms, where the microbiologists worked on the most dangerous pathogens. Din did not have the clearance to enter this series of rooms, but there was a security camera outside that showed a man lying face down on the ground inside.

Paz.

Din started to panic as he grabbed his phone to call for an ambulance. He turned away from the camera monitor as he spoke with the emergency operator on speaker phone, telling her the situation while he texted his boss to gain entrance to the room.

When Din next looked up from his phone, Paz was gone, nowhere to be seen on the monitor. He looked on in confusion for a moment, before he was startled by a loud noise from within the doorway. 

A large, lab coat-clad body was slamming into the door, and Din couldn’t hold in the yell that escaped his throat. He dropped the phone in his panic, cracking the screen and ending the call with the paramedics. 

There, on the other side of the inaccessible door, was Paz, but Din barely recognized him. 

His skin was pale, almost translucent, and his eyes were unfocused and far away. There was blood dripping down his forehead, presumably from when he collapsed earlier. He stared at Din through the window, unseeingly, before slamming into the door again, staining the glass red.

Din full on screamed this time, falling in his haste to scramble away from the door. 

Paz continued to lock gazes with him, looking positively catatonic, before repeating the motion of ramming the door with full force. The glass beakers on nearby shelves rattled with the movement. 

Then the most eerie noise Din had ever heard was coming out of Paz’s mouth, a strange mixture of a pained whine and a feral howl. He didn’t even know humans were capable of making such a sound.

Din had seen enough. He bolted from the room, forgoing his dropped phone, and ran the entire length of the lab, back to the parking garage. 

As he fled in his car, sirens could be heard in the distance. He knew he should stay, should guide the paramedics to where Paz was, but his colleague’s words from earlier in the day kept ringing in his head.

“...if this gets worse, take Grogu and get the hell out of town…”

He didn’t need telling twice.

As Din pulled into the driveway, he could hear children laughing and playing from next door. He ran from the car, practically tripping over Grogu’s bike in his haste, to the neighbor’s backyard. There was Grogu, safe and sound, playing in the dirt with some friends. If he hadn’t just seen what he had, he might have felt annoyed at the dirt on Grogu’s clothes, and how difficult it would be to get the stains out. 

But all he could feel in that moment was the warm wash of relief at seeing his son safe and unharmed.

Grogu perked up when he noticed his dad standing at the gate.

“Hi dad!” he yelled, his friends chiming in with, “hi Mr. Djarin!”

Din nervously waved back, and then beckoned Grogu over. When he reached the gate, Din opened it with shaking hands and ushered him back home. Grogu seemed initially irritated at being asked to stop playing so soon in the evening, but he was nothing if not perceptive, and could tell that something was wrong.

Din flicked the lights on when the two of them made it inside, and immediately locked all of the doors and windows. He sat Grogu down in front of a cartoon with implicit instructions of, “stay here.” He then hurried through the house, packing clothes and toiletries in luggage bags like he would if they had been issued some sort of evacuation order. He made sure to grab family keepsakes that could not be replaced, personal documents like Grogu’s adoption papers, and a few of his son’s favorite toys. 

When he was done, he stole one last look to his bedroom, and hesitated before grabbing the lone handgun he kept in case of emergencies. In all honesty, he wasn’t keen on keeping one, and the thought of Grogu finding it made him sick to his stomach. But he was suddenly thankful to have it all the same, and was glad for the course he’d taken, years back, about how to safely handle one.

It was around ten o’clock in the evening when he lugged everything to the car. Grogu looked curiously on, eating a popsicle while watching cartoons. When Din made his way back inside, he flipped off the television, much to Grogu’s annoyance, and hurriedly threw his popsicle stick in the trash. 

“Okay, Grogu, get in the car,” he said, sounding slightly out of breath.

“Where are we going?” Grogu asked, fear seeping into his voice.

Din’s chest constricted at the scared look his son was giving him. He tried to put on a reassuring smile.

“We’re going to go pick up Cobb, and we’re going to take a little trip.” He hesitated before adding, “don’t worry, we’ll be back soon.” 

He hoped that last part wouldn’t be a lie.

A half hour later the two showed up in the parking lot of Cobb’s apartment complex. Normally Din would have called or texted beforehand, but he was now sans phone. He prayed to whatever god would listen that Cobb was home.

He knocked quickly and loudly on the front door. Din held his breath for an agonizingly long moment, before he heard the locking mechanism sliding into place. He breathed a sigh of relief.

There stood Cobb, blinking blearily in the harsh light of the hallway, wearing sleep pants and one of Din’s old hoodies that his lithe form was practically swimming in. Ah, Din thought, that’s where it had gone to. 

“Din?” Cobb rasped out, voice thick with sleep. If the situation had been different, he might have teased his best friend about being asleep before eleven, but as it was, he refrained.

“Hey Cobb, let us in, it’s important.”

Cobb immediately stood to attention, sensing the tension in Din’s posture. He stepped aside and let the two pass.

It had been a while since Din had visited Cobb in his apartment, as opposed to the other way around. It was very much the same as the last time he had come over. Sparse but cozy, with a bookshelf on every wall, and knick knacks and a few framed photographs here and there. 

His eye caught on a picture in an ornate wooden frame on the coffee table, of the three of them from their fishing trip last year. Grogu was front and center, missing his two front teeth and holding a small fish in each hand. Din and Cobb stood to either side, holding fishing poles and nets.

A similar photo sat besides it, one of a seventeen year old Din and Cobb, fishing from the same lake. Their arms were around each other’s shoulders and they were smiling brightly at the camera.

How Din wished this was just a fun family fishing trip, and not whatever nightmare he could feel himself slipping into.

Cobb looked to Din, confusion written on his face.

“Is everything… okay? My phone wasn’t off, but I don’t think I heard you call?”

Din spared a glance at Grogu, who was nervously looking up at his dad. He had to keep calm, didn’t want to freak out the kid for no reason.

Din cleared his throat. “Do you… do you remember what I told you about, last weekend? About the virology department at my lab?” 

At Cobb’s slow nod, he continued, “things are… not good. I can’t explain right now. But we need to get out of town, things are about to get dangerous. Can you pack what you need in the next half hour?”

Cobb blanched, looking more startled than he had when Din first knocked on his door.

“Wait, we’re just packing up and high-tailing it out of here?”

Din nodded. “I know I’m asking a lot of you, Cobb, but I need you to trust me.”

Cobb laughed at that, sounding tense.

“Of course I trust you, I’m just a little shaken seeing you like this. Hang on, I can be ready in fifteen minutes.”

As Cobb packed his belongings, Din rifled through his pantry, looking for non-perishables they could take with them. He was suddenly struck with how ridiculous this all looked. What if this was all just nothing, and he was pulling Grogu away from school and Cobb away from his job over his unprecedented paranoia?

God, he hoped that was all this was.

Cobb was suddenly at his side, a backpack and a duffel bag in tow. “Where to, partner?”

They hit the road after that, not entirely sure where they were headed. If this was going to spread as fast as Paz had been expecting, Din wanted to get as far outside the city limits as he could. 

Less than an hour in, Grogu was fast asleep in the back seat, tightly clutching an old ratty teddy bear. Cobb turned in the passenger seat and smiled at the small boy. Then he looked to Din.

“So what happened? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look so spooked.”

Din relayed the events of the day to Cobb, voice shaking with the effort. When he was finished, Cobb looked on in terror. He laughed nervously as he said,

“Not gonna lie, this kind of low key sounds like…”

“Don’t say it,” Din said through gritted teeth. Giving it a name made it seem all the more horrifying. 

“How far are we gonna go?”

Din shrugged, checking the GPS on Cobb’s phone. “Not sure yet. I figured we’d drive a couple of hundred miles, and then find someplace to sleep. To start.”

“That far? You’re really serious aren’t you?”

Din nodded solemnly. He still couldn’t get the picture of Paz out of his head, staring blankly ahead as if he were…

As if he were...

“Do you want me to drive for a while? Din?”

He snapped back to the present, rubbing at his eyes. “Yeah, let’s stop to fill up on gas, and then we can switch.”

They got off on the next exit and stopped at the first gas station they found. They were barely out of the city limits, and Din in no way felt safe yet. 

It was as if the entirety of the situation was mirrored in the sky, distant lightning forking through the clouds and ominous thunder low on the horizon. Din shivered as he stood at the gas pump. 

Cobb trudged back to the car, a coffee in each hand.

“Thanks,” Din said, taking the offered beverage and taking a long drink. They stood side by side, sipping at their coffees and waiting for the gas pump to finish, the wind whipping through their hair.

“Storm’s comin,” Cobb remarked. Din wasn't sure if he   
meant literally or figuratively.

They got back on the road, surrounded by semi trucks and deep, rolling thunder. Grogu whimpered from the backseat. 

“Daaaad, there’s thunder,” he whined, clearly frightened.

“I know baby, I’m sorry,” Din replied. Cobb looked to the backseat from the rear-view mirror with a grin.

“You know what makes me feel better when I’m scared?”

When Grogu shook his head, Cobb started to sing, something pop and catchy that he knew the kid enjoyed. 

Din laughed. He and Grogu had always enjoyed the sound of Cobb’s voice. He wasn’t a good singer, per se. But what he lacked in precision, he more than made up for with heart. 

Cobb sang for a long while, until the thunder had abated and Grogu had fallen back asleep. Din held out a hand, and Cobb took hold of it. Din squeezed tightly.

“Thank you,” he said sincerely. Cobb smiled.

“My pleasure.”

By the time daylight broke through the storm clouds, the three of them found themselves a state and a half westwards. They pulled into a cheap-ish hotel and checked in.

“We’ll stay for a day or two, and keep an ear to the news. If nothing happens, we’ll go back,” Din said seriously. Cobb nodded in agreement. 

Din and Cobb took turns sleeping, one of them digging through the news on Cobb’s phone as the other slept. Grogu was just ecstatic to not be in school. 

That night, Din was shaken awake by Cobb’s hand on his shoulder. He looked pale as he handed his phone to Din. There was an emergency broadcast alert on the lock screen. 

“THIS IS AN EMERGENCY ALERT FROM THE NATIONAL BROADCASTING SYSTEM. THIS IS NOT A TEST. THE FOLLOWING CITIES ARE UNDER LOCKDOWN EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY. STAY IN YOUR HOMES AWAY FROM DOORS AND WINDOWS UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.”

Din felt like he was going to throw up. He had hoped, had prayed, that he was overreacting. He flipped through Cobb’s phone to the local news stations, looking for more information. To his surprise, there was none.

“Try social media?” Cobb suggested.

Din took to the first social media site he could think of, and his heart stopped. There, in plain sight, were dozens upon dozens of eyewitness accounts, similar to what Din had witnessed the day prior.

“St. Francis hospital on 38th street is overrun with them, we’re barricaded in the break room on the sixth floor. God grant us mercy!”

“We’re in Westwood apartment complex on Main Street, they came on so fast. Never thought I’d have to shoot another man... if they’re even still human, that is.”

“Mom I’m at Stacy’s house, and I’m safe, if you see this! Please lock the doors and stay inside!”

Din was shaking, head to toe, when he handed Cobb’s phone back to him. There was a question on Cobb’s face.

“Do we keep driving?”

Din nodded, “we keep driving.”

As they pulled out of the hotel parking lot, Din couldn’t help but wonder if this would be the last time he’d sleep in a real bed. Or the last time he would drink a hot cup of coffee. Of the last time he would feel safe in his own skin. 

It would only take a matter of days for the full reality of the situation to settle in. But for now, Din allowed himself to cling to the last shred of hope he could.

It would be the last time he knew what that felt like.


	2. Departure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warnings for the following:
> 
> Panic attacks  
> Vomiting  
> Some graphic violence 
> 
> Please be mindful!

The next twelve hours were spent entirely on the road, with only short pit stops at fast food chains and gas stations. Neither Din nor Cobb had any sort of concrete plan in place, but they knew the further from their hometown they could get, the safer they would be. Their main priorities were keeping Cobb’s phone charged and making sure there was enough gas in the car.

While one of them would drive, the other would keep an eye on the news. By this point the media had swooped in to report on what was happening in their hometown, but the real action was on social media sites, where it was evident the virus had already spread beyond their city’s limits. 

This was all happening too fast. Even faster than Paz said it would. 

Keeping Grogu entertained had become a bit of a chore by the third consecutive hour on the road. While it was clear he was afraid, picking up on the negative vibes put out by Din and Cobb’s voice and body language, he was still just a kid with a short attention span.

“Daaaaad, Cooooobb, I’m boooored!” Grogu whined from the backseat, twisting himself up in his seat belt dramatically. 

“I know baby, I’m sorry,” Din said absentmindedly as he scrolled through Cobb’s phone.

“Hey Grogu, do you wanna play a game?” Cobb asked from the driver’s seat. Grogu perked up at this.

“What kind of game?”

“You ever play ‘I spy’?”

Grogu looked deep in thought before he shook his head. Cobb grinned.

“You gotta look for something interesting and give me a clue so I can guess what it is. For example…” he cleared his throat. “I spy, with my little eye, something that is red. So you have to guess what I’m thinking of, and it has to be red.”

Grogu screwed up his face, thinking hard, before he shouted, “it’s your scarf, Cobb!”

He laughed. “Bingo! Your turn kiddo.”

The two went back and forth for a while, with Din chiming in now and again, until Grogu said,

“I spy, with my little eye, something that is gray!”

“Hmmm, is it the car seats?” Cobb asked.

“Or the road outside?” Din asked.

“Nope!” Grogu laughed, “it’s smoke!”

Din and Cobb shared a panicked look when they realized the front of the car was indeed smoking. They pulled off to the side of the road and piled out.

Cobb carefully lifted the hood to find that the car was thankfully not on fire, but pouring out a large deal of smoke all the same. Din swore under his breath.

“God dammit…”

Cobb scratched his head as he took in the damage. 

“Well, it could be worse I suppose. It’s not on fire… yet.”

“You know something about cars, Cobb, do you think you could fix it?”

Cobb laughed, high and loud.

“You give me far too much credit. Just because I like to dick around with this sort of thing doesn’t mean I’m any good at it.”

“Shit,” Din swore again, hands in his hair. Cobb eyed his phone in Din’s hand.

“Not much we can do about it but call for a tow. We’re kind of in the middle of nowhere, but there’s gotta be a town with a mechanic around here somewhere.”

They sat on the side of the road for hours as they waited for a tow truck, which proved to be rather difficult with a cranky child whining every so many minutes. When it eventually arrived, it pulled them a half hour westward to the nearest town, a tiny thing with a population of less than five hundred. 

The mechanic’s shop was located in a small strip mall, alongside an out-of-business burger joint and a seedy looking motel. Din, Cobb, and Grogu sat in the waiting room while the mechanic looked at their car. About an hour later, he beckoned Din to his office.

“Well, it’s in pretty bad shape,” he said, flipping through a clipboard of diagnostics. 

Din swallowed nervously. “But you can fix it right?”

The mechanic laughed. “I could, but honestly it would be cheaper to buy a whole new car at this point. And it would take a couple of weeks, at least, to get the parts I’d need.”

Din closed his eyes and took a deep, frustrated breath. This was the worst possible timing imaginable.

“Is there anywhere around here where I could rent something?”

The mechanic shook his head. “Not around here, the closest place is probably fifty miles east of here.”

Din could feel himself panicking. It was getting harder to breath and the walls were closing in. How was he going to keep them all safe if they were stranded in the god forsaken middle of nowhere?

Suddenly there was a light touch at his back, and he could hear Cobb’s voice, sounding far away, say,

“Thanks anyway, I think we’ll cut our losses. That motel over there open for business?”

Then Din was being led back to a chair in the waiting room, where he slumped over with his head in between his knees. He could hear Cobb’s voice again, sounding like he was underwater.

“Din? You alright? Do you mind if I touch you?”

Din gave a jerky nod of his head, and he could feel Cobb take one of his hands and bring it to his chest.

“Breathe with me, okay?”

Din nodded again as he tried to match Cobb’s exaggerated breathing with his own. He could feel himself beginning to hyperventilate, his vision dulling and colors falling away. Then Cobb was speaking again, and he could barely make out the words.

“It’s gonna be ok, I promise. Just a little set back. Let’s get you all sorted out and then we’ll check in to the motel next door, alright?”

Din squeezed his eyes tightly shut, grabbing a fistful of Cobb’s scarf as he tried to match his breathing. 

Eventually the world stopped spinning, and the static drained from his ears. He slumped back in his chair, utterly boneless, and sighed. Cobb gave his hand a final squeeze before removing it from his chest.

“There you go, see? Not so bad, you got through it.”

Din opened his eyes to see Cobb kneeling in front of him, a relieved smile on his face, and Grogu off to the side, crying silently.

Din was up out of his chair in a flash, foregoing his urge to collapse on the floor. He swooped Grogu up in a hug, patting his back as he cried.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you buddy,” he said softly. Grogu sniffled, saying,

“I thought you were dying!”

Din looked over to Cobb, who was standing off to the side awkwardly, and mouthed, “thank you.”

The smile Cobb gave him in return was like liquid sunshine.

The three of them unloaded their luggage from Din’s dilapidated car, Grogu giving it a good bye wave, and headed to the motel next door.

It was definitely not the cleanest or most reputable looking establishment Din had ever seen, but beggars couldn’t be choosers. They walked to the window and began to check in.

The clerk looked like he was recovering from a bad cold or bout of the flu. His eyes were red-rimmed and his skin was pallid. Din reminded himself to disinfect the key when they got inside. He had just had about enough of viruses by now, thank you very much, and he couldn’t afford for any of them to get sick.

Despite the motel’s exterior, the room was blessedly cleaner and more comfortable than Din had expected. He heaved a sigh of relief. They immediately plugged in Cobb’s phone to charge. It was their one remaining lifeline. 

“Dad! I’m hungry!” Grogu whined, falling on the bed with a pout. Din rolled his eyes.

“Always so theatrical, Grogu. Hang on, I’ll see what we have to eat.”

He dug through their luggage to find some cans of soup and a microwaveable cup of mac and cheese.   
He got to work warming them up when he heard Cobb gasp from the corner where he was scrolling on his phone. Din raised an eyebrow.

“Everything okay over there?”

Cobb looked up, expression unreadable. He peeked over at Grogu, playing on the other side of the room, and then beckoned Din to his side. He showed him his phone, and whispered,

“Our whole home town has gone dark. No news is getting in or out now.”

Din felt his stomach drop. “My god…”

“There are rumors that the whole damn town was bombed off the map, but no one knows for sure what happened. All I know is that if it weren’t for your quick thinking, all three of us would probably be dead by now.”

Cobb paused, and then said softly, “thank you for picking me up the other day. I’m only alive because of you.”

Din frowned. “Do you honestly think I would leave without you? You’re my best friend, you’re family. To both me and Grogu. Of course I came and got you.”

Cobb smiled. “I’m glad. You’re my family too. I don’t know what I would do without the two of you.”

They shared a brief, tender look, before the microwave beeped and Grogu was yelling for Din to stir the cheese powder in. 

Din and Cobb spent the evening pouring over maps on Cobb’s phone, trying to figure out their next move. They were squarely in the Midwest now, and while they were hundreds of miles from home, they were still too close for Din’s comfort. Cobb scratched at his beard as he looked at the map over the other man’s shoulder.

“It might not be a terrible idea to sit tight right here for a bit, see if we can wait it out.”

Din hummed under his breath. “We could, I suppose. I just would feel safer the further we can move westwards.”

“How far will we need to drive before you feel safe?” Cobb asked, tone free of judgement. “Not that I don’t agree with you, but we’re pretty far away now. I think we can rest and catch our breath for a bit, yeah?” He put a comforting hand on Din’s shoulder. “And besides, even if that virus thing spreads further, we’re out in the middle of nowhere right now. Isn’t that theoretically the best place to be?”

Din twisted a lock of his hair around a finger. After a moment’s hesitation, he nodded.

“You’re probably right. And besides, if we leave we’re likely going to have to hitchhike, which I am one hundred percent against.”

Cobb gave Din’s shoulder a little pat. “I’m not keen on that either.”

The three of them turned in early that night, all equally exhausted from their impromptu road trip. The motel room only had one king sized bed, and when Cobb offered to sleep on the floor, Din just peeled back the covers on the opposite side of the bed, saying,

“Get over here, there’s room enough for three.”

They slept, Grogu in the middle, with Din and Cobb acting as bookends on either side. It reminded Din of a child sleeping between their parents after a thunderstorm. 

But then again, Cobb was rather like a second father to Grogu, wasn’t he? 

Din would be lying if he had said he hadn’t thought about inviting Cobb to move in with them, before the world went to shit. Grogu loved him, he thought the world of him.

And Din? He loved Cobb too.

It had taken years for Din to come to terms with just what sort of love he felt for his best friend. Was it familial? Platonic? Romantic?

The answer was all of the above.

Din had spent his fair share of nights, alone in his bed, staring up at the ceiling and wondering just what he meant to Cobb. He had also spent a fair number of nights sleeping next to Cobb, whether on the couch where they had fallen asleep talking, or even in his own bed when Cobb had slated to stay over longer. And he had wondered what it would be like to lean over, brush the fringe from his forehead, and softly kiss his lips.

For a while, Din’s heart had waged a war with his brain, about whether to act on these feelings or let things remain the same. But in the end, he decided the possible reward wasn’t worth the risk of failure. He could live without Cobb’s love, but he could never live without his friendship. And he would never forgive himself if he were to fuck up one of the two best things to ever happen to him.

So, he told himself, he was content with the way things were. He was content with this little dance they did with each other, how they would tiptoe around certain feelings and avoid others all together.

But every so often, he would still allow himself to wonder. What if…

What if…

What if…?

The digital clock on the side table nearest Din read two o’clock in the morning when next he awoke. He could feel Grogu snuggled up beside himself, teddy bear in tow, and could hear Cobb’s soft snores from the other side of the bed. Din smiled.

He laid there, trying to fall back asleep, when he realized he was too restless to do so. He decided he would take a quick walk to the vending machine he had seen outside earlier that evening.

When he stepped outside the door, the air felt humid and slightly chilly, and there were storm clouds on the horizon again. It was that time of year, after all.

He stretched his arms over his head as he made his way to the vending machine, stray raindrops falling on his face. He thought for a moment before buying a sofa for himself, Cobb and Grogu. It wasn’t really suitable for breakfast, but hey, it was practically the apocalypse. 

Din turned around to make his way back to the room, when he spotted a figure in the parking lot. He squinted, eyes still adjusting to the still night, when he realized it was the desk clerk from earlier. Din wouldn’t have paid him any mind, but there was something eerie about the man’s posture, hunched over and slightly wrong, that gave him pause. He stilled, feeling cold sweat form at the back of his neck, as the clerk turned to face him.

And it was suddenly Paz all over again.

There was a whine, low and unnatural, like the sound a wounded animal would make. The streetlights in the parking lot illuminated the man’s pale face and reflected off of his empty eyes, making him look truly supernatural. 

And then the man was charging in Din’s direction, face void of malice or anger or…

...anything really. 

Din yelped, turning on his heels so quickly that he felt his right ankle roll underneath him. He fell to the ground, swearing, and then the man was upon him, lunging at his outstretched leg. 

They grappled for a moment, the man gripping tightly to Din’s foot as he tried to pull away. The man was much stronger than he looked, but Din was smart. Through the haze of panic in his brain he clobbered the man with the bottles of soda he’d just purchased. It wasn’t working, the man opened his jaws like some sort of deranged snake…

And then the soda exploded, shooting fizz and carbonated water at the man with enough force to knock him backwards. Din lept from the ground, almost falling again on his bad ankle, and scrambled for the motel room door. He yanked it open and slammed it shut, bolting each and every lock. 

Grogu screamed. 

Cobb yelled, jumping out of bed immediately, stance ready to fight. When he saw it was Din, and not a burglar, he sighed in relief. 

“Jesus Christ Din! You scared the shit out of me!”

Just then something was hitting the door from the outside, hard enough to rattle the light fixture on the ceiling and raining dust down upon them.

Din jumped into action, grabbing the nearest chair and bracing it against the door handle. 

“Dad! What’s happening?” Grogu screeched, clutching his stuffed bear and crouching in the corner.

“Both of you! Stay back! Away from the door and the window!” Din shouted, his voice sounding more confident than he felt.

The three of them backed up to the rear wall, holding their breath as the door shook. Cobb took hold of the nearest lamp, ripping the chord from the wall, and stepped forward slightly in a protective stance. 

It was then that Din remembered the handgun, still tucked safely away in his personal luggage, in a place where Grogu would not find it. He dove to the ground, digging in the bag until his hands touched cold metal.

The sound of breaking glass permeated the air, and a head and torso was beginning to climb in through the window…

A gunshot rang out, and then there was a deafening silence. No one moved. No one spoke.

And then Grogu was screaming, reaching for Cobb who had fallen to his knees beside him, lamp fixture forgotten on the ground. Cobb took him in with shaking arms, looking close to tears himself. He turned to Din, looking more scared than he had ever seen him. When he found his voice, he stuttered out,

“I didn’t know you brought that…”

Din collapsed in a heap, breathing hard, adrenaline pulsing in his veins. The gun felt foreign in his hand, like poison, and he tossed it away. His hand vibrated even in its absence.

He had never shot it outside of the shooting range, where he took the safety course years ago. He never thought he’d have to. And then the weight of his actions crushed him beneath it.

He had just killed a man. 

He lunged forward and heaved, retching so hard he thought he would faint. He shivered, the cool air from the broken window freezing against his clammy skin. 

And then there was a presence at his side, steadfast and strong, despite the tremor in his voice.

“It’s okay, it’s going to be okay,” Cobb repeated, again and again, like a mantra. “You did the right thing, you saved us Din, if it weren’t for you…” he trailed off, a sob escaping his throat.

The three of them sat like that, in a sobbing heap, for longer than was probably safe. When Din regained his composure he tried to stand, to check the front door, to make sure they were truly alone. But when he tried his ankle gave out and he collapsed back to the floor. Cobb stood up and turned on the lights, coming back to Din’s side immediately.

“What hurts?” he asked, voice tense. His eyes were scanning over Din’s body, checking for obvious injuries.

“I’m fine, just rolled my ankle,” Din replied, adrenaline finally wearing off, leaving him feeling exhausted.

“Which ankle?”

“The right.”

Cobb took Din’s right shoe in hand, and pulled gently. Din winced at the movement, and Cobb grimaced apologetically.

When he had his sock off he ran his hands gingerly over Din’s ankle, assessing the damage. Din laughed tersely.

“Do you even know what you’re looking for?”

“Not really, but I can tell it’s swollen as hell.”

Din hung his head. “Fuck, we really can’t stay here, it’s not safe.” He tried to stand again, but Cobb gently pulled him back down.

“We’re in the middle of bum fuck nowhere, Din. That had to have been a fluke, right?” Cobb paused, and then, “that was like what happened at the lab, wasn’t it?”

Din paused, meeting Cobb’s hard gaze, and then nodded. 

“Then it’s spread further than we thought?”

“Yeah,” Din said, sounding a little breathless. “We can’t stay here, but we also probably shouldn’t travel until daylight.” He glanced to Grogu, huddled against Cobb’s other side, and held out his hand. Grogu shrank back, and Din’s heart shattered. Cobb looked between the two, a sad sort of look about him.

“Okay, here’s my proposition. Grogu, you try to go back to sleep. If you can’t, you can watch the tv quietly. Din,” he turned to his friend seriously, “you sift through our luggage, we won’t be able to take all of it with us. Try to keep it to the essentials. Then I’ll keep watch outside, to make sure there aren’t more of those…um...” he stumbled over his words, “to make sure there isn’t more trouble. Okay?”

Din nodded, thankful to Cobb for taking charge. Grogu buried his face in Cobb’s arm, clutching to him tightly. 

“Come on then, you come sit over here,” Cobb said softly, picking Grogu up and depositing him on the bed. Grogu clung tighter to him, and Cobb sighed. 

“It’s okay, I’m going to be right outside the door, and your dad is going to be right over there.”

He smiled reassuringly, kissed Grogu’s forehead, and strode to the door, opening it cautiously. When he was sure the coast was clear outside, he gave a shaky thumbs up to Din, and shut the door behind him.

Din’s eyes turned to their luggage on the floor by the television, then to his frightened son on the bed. He crawled to the bed, careful to avoid jostling his bad ankle, and hoisted himself up. Grogu watched Din warily, gripping his stuffed animal so hard he was about to break a seam.

“Grogu, I’m sorry, that was very scary. Are you okay?”

Grogu whimpered, eyes shining with fresh tears.

“You had a gun. I thought only bad guys used guns. My old dad, he...”

And then it clicked. Of course Grogu was more scared of the gun than the intruder, after what he’d seen, before he came to live with Din…

“Sometimes bad guys use guns, you’re right. But right now there are some very bad guys that are very scary and dangerous, and I might need to use one to keep us safe, okay?”

Din opened his arms, a silent apology for scaring his son. And then Grogu hesitantly put down his teddy bear and crawled over to his father, letting himself be enveloped in a tight hug. 

“I didn’t like that, dad…” he whined, sending a shot straight to Din’s heart.

“I know, I’m sorry. If I can help it, I won’t use it again, but I might have to, okay?”

Grogu nodded, tears staining Din’s shirt. Din rocked him back and forth in his arms, humming softly. Before he knew it the little boy was asleep, body slumped over in exhaustion.

Din sighed as he laid Grogu back against the pillows and tucked the blankets tightly around him. He stole a glance to the broken window, the flickering light above the door illuminating Cobb’s silent shadow outside. And then he got to work on their luggage.

Daylight came soon enough, dull and dreary through the remaining storm clouds. Cobb peaked his head inside, watching Din hop around the small room making breakfast with what little they had to eat. 

“He okay?” Cobb asked, jerking his head in Grogu’s direction as he shut the door quietly behind him. Din shrugged.

“He will be… I hope. You uh… do you remember what I told you, about his biological parents? And the life he had before he met me?”

Cobb slowly nodded in understanding.

“Yeah, his real dad was a real piece of shit, if I recall. A real violent asshole right?” Din nodded.

“I think I scared him more than the… more than that guy out there.” 

Cobb looked at Din sympathetically. He hesitated before placing a gentle hand on Din’s shoulder.

“You did the right thing, god only knows what would have happened if you hadn’t had that. A little warning next time might be nice though, I didn’t even know you still had a gun.”

Din smiled tiredly as he closed the gap and leaned into Cobb’s embrace. 

“Well, now you know. I just hope I won’t have to use it again.”

He wasn’t sure if that was a promise he would be able   
to keep.

By the time the digital clock on the bedside read eight o’clock, the three of them had eaten breakfast and were checking to make sure they had everything they couldn’t live without. A spare set of clothes, all the food they could carry, Grogu’s adoption papers. They even held into Cobb’s phone and charger on the off chance they’d be able to charge it again sometime in the future. But they knew that was a long shot. For now, they turned it off, keeping it as a last resort.

Din had no idea how cut off from the world he would feel without a phone constantly in his hands. 

The last news update they read before turning off Cobb’s phone was about the ensuing panic gripping the country in the wake of what happened in their hometown. Even as far away on the west coast, people were already starting to hoard gas and groceries. 

Din and Cobb each donned a backpack, and Grogu held tightly to his teddy bear. Cobb picked Grogu up and held him closely to his chest, telling him not to look as they passed the body of the night clerk outside the door. Din hobbled along besides them, until he stumbled and fell in the empty parking lot. 

Cobb placed Grogu back on the ground, and held a hand out to Din. They walked for a ways, Cobb supporting the majority of Din’s weight, when it became clear that he was in no position to walk. 

Cobb re-positioned his backpack around his chest, and hoisted Din on his back, much to Din’s arguments of “I can still walk.”

They walked for about a mile, out to where the interstate began. By the time they were at the entrance ramp, Cobb was breathing hard. He was strong, but Din was much heavier than he was.

Cobb deposited Din back on the ground and stopped to catch his breath. Grogu looked between them curiously.

“Now what?” he asked.

Din sighed, his face pinched.

“Now we wait.”

There was very little traffic out this way. Cobb stood on the side of the road with his thumb out, the international sign of the hitch hiker. Din looked warily on.

There were a handful of cars and semi trucks that passed before someone eventually stopped. A beat-up, forest green pick-up truck rolled to a stop beside them and the passenger side window opened.

The passenger was a petite woman with long black hair pulled into a braid. She wore a cocky smile. They could just see the driver besides her, a large, bald man with a stern expression but kind eyes. 

The woman spoke.

“What kind of assholes are you, going hitchhiking with a little kid?”

**Author's Note:**

> I’m godtier1 on tumblr! Come chat with me about Din x Cobb!!


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